How sweet is this?

Where is everyone today?

The lurkers have popped in, but my commentors haven't been around!

Today's Phone Message

"message for you"

(punch in the security code)

"you have one message, you have 3 saved messages. to select your new message, select 2"

2

"hi! nice day out, ain't it ellie?...i've been looking all over for you....for 5 years! haven't been able to get you. i finally googled your name and saw your picture and there you are! i'm crying! call me when you get a chance!"

my dear dear friend for 19 years, lost her 5 ago...she's back and living right across the mountain!

you know who it is!

MONDAY WAS TOUGH.

I hope Tuesday is better.

We met on June 3rd, 2000

and married on March 29th, 2002. We share a lot of commonalities:
Our belly button birthday...our sobriety birthday...
We share the love of the great outdoors: hiking, camping, bicycling, just getting out...

and although there are significant differences between us, we have still shared so much together, both good and bad. Thank you for always being there. You are a solid rock and made such a difference in my life and the lives of Megan, Michelle and Ed. I love you honey. Happy 5th anniversary!


(we obviously need a professional photo taken of us!)

I love this guy!

Easter is here soon! I can't wait!

Clarifying for LOLLY:

Lolly commented that my last post is BORING.
My last post is NOT boring!
See for YOURSELF!
Here is the definition of boring:

1.	to pierce (a solid substance) with some rotary cutting instrument.

2.	to make (a hole) by drilling with such an instrument.

3.	to form, make, or construct (a tunnel, mine, well, passage, etc.) by hollowing out, cutting through, or removing a core of material: to bore a tunnel through the Alps; to bore an oil well 3000 feet deep.

4.	Machinery. to enlarge (a hole) to a precise diameter with a cutting tool within the hole, by rotating either the tool or the work.

5.	to force (an opening), as through a crowd, by persistent forward thrusting (usually fol. by through or into); to force or make (a passage).

–verb (used without object)

6.	to make a hole in a solid substance with a rotary cutting instrument.

7.	Machinery. to enlarge a hole to a precise diameter.

8.	(of a substance) to admit of being bored: Certain types of steel do not bore well.

–noun

9.	a hole made or enlarged by boring.

10.	the inside diameter of a hole, tube, or hollow cylindrical object or device, such as a bushing or bearing, engine cylinder, or barrel of a gun.

SEE? MY LAST POST DOES NOT FIT IN ANY OF THESE DEFINITIONS! YOU CANNOT...LET ME REPEAT...CANNOT SAY IT IS BORING!

So there!

Ha!

Good lord! FFS!

COPY CAT

Received this from my oldest ditty via email. copy and send back to me if you want! ellie_saxy@yahoo.com

1. FIRST NAME
Ellie is what I''m called.

2. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE?

yes, a good friend of mom and dad's.
3. WHEN DID YOU LAST CRY?
when i told my admin. that i was going to be moving.

4. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING?
sometimes

5 WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT?
thin sliced turkey or chicken

6. ANY KIDS?
son-Ed, twin girls- Michelle and Megan

7. HOW MANY PETS
Gus Bob (part border collie, part something really smart)
George Dog the Cat (gray tabby)
TT the naughty snotty cat (black and beautiful)

8. DO YOU HAVE A JOURNAL?
No

9. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT?
Not anymore. "sarc" actually means to tear away flesh. It's original meaning is to be rude or insulting with the excuse of humor...

10. Do you STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS?
yes and today they hurt.

11. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP?
no way in hell

12. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL?
anything with fruit and nuts in it.

13. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF?
nope

14. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG?
yes

15. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM FLAVOR?
anything with chocolate and nuts (like moose tracks) and nothing with those gross disgusting marshmallows in it!

16. SHOE SIZE?
bigger than it should be with my bone things sticking out!

17. RED OR PINK?
pink

18. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO SEND THIS BACK TO YOU?
Yes

19. WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING?
blue sweats, no shoes

20. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW?
radioparadise.com eclectic mix and quite good. the song is..."Brick" by Ben Folds Five

21. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE?
seafoam green

22. FAVORITE SMELL?
cinnamon in the autumn
honey dew or mango in the spring and summer
vanilla in the winter

23. WOULD YOUR X('s) SAY ANYTHING NICE ABOUT YOU?
not no but HECK NO!

24. THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE YOU ARE ATTRACTED TO?
their level of confidence and intellect

25. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS?
yes

26. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED AT THE MOVIE THEATER?
CARS

27. Summer or Winter?
autumn

28. Favorite dessert?
oh, just about anything, but i love cream cheese deserts or creme pies with lots of whip cream!

29. MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND?
not going to say

30. LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND?
still not going to say

31. WHAT BOOKS ARE YOU READING?
My Sister's Keeper and really really good!

32. WHAT'S ON YOUR MOUSE PAD?
no mouse pad

33. Watched on TV last night?
no tv

34. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES ?
neither

35. THE FURTHEST YOU'VE BEEN FROM HOME?
washington dc

36. WHAT'S YOUR SPECIAL TALENT?
Keeping House (lmfao)

37. WHEN AND WHERE WERE YOU BORN?
december 18th, laramie wyoming

38. WHO SENT THIS TO YOU?
my oldest sister, pennie!

Time to write a new blog

before anyone writes TIME TIME TIME.

Yesterday, we got the boat ready to sell. It's a nice 16ft Blue Water in/out board and has served us well, but we are on to better things. We've ordered a river raft so we can get on the Missouri and Yellowstone rivers and float for a few days or a week. It will be wonderful.

Then we soaked at Norris Hot Springs. That is always a wonderful experience. It is so relaxing and warm and makes you want to go night night! After that we went to Bozeman and bought a new little tiller! I've had to hand till my flower and vegetable gardens. Now we can till that dirt. I also got some strawberries and baby's breath i mean lily of the valley to plant. I'm obviously getting spring fever!

Guess we are going to hike up the Beartrap Wilderness trail by the Madison river today. Sounds good to me!

Have a lovely week!

3203 US FATALITIES IN IRAQ THIS AM, 3210 THIS EVENING!

and this next Tuesday marks the 4th year anniversary of the war. Over 3000 Christains marched at the capitol and the national cathedral against the war, noting it is morally wrong. They walked 3 miles to the White House, in the rain, in the cold. They said it is time they start speaking what they meant...the fear kept people silent and are now waking up to speak out against this war that we were led to believe (for some) was necessary.

The most common

thread going in the blogs i read are:
1) bears (vel, aj, dr. j)
2) first time buying his undies and being 30 (martinit)
3) visiting loving friend in the pen (lolly)
4) getting to go home (meanie)
5) red nose day in the UK
and i love all of these...but i'm always curious and waiting for sunday to come around...i love reading the new posts on THIS blog (thanks lolly for telling me about it!).

Awesome pics

of Scott's. Click HERE to see them!

Transitions

are in the horizon.

:o( Pictures didn't turn out

from when Beth Anne and I spent the day together...
from when I stayed with Megs...
from Big Grampa's 96th Birthday...

WHAH!!!

My new favorite song:

Artist: Paul Weller
Song: You Do Something to Me

You do something to me, something deep inside
I'm hanging on the wire for a love I'll never find

You do something wonderful then chase it all away
Mixing my emotions that throws me back again

Hanging on the wire, I'm waiting for the change
I'm dancing through the fire, just to catch a flame
an' feel real again

You do something to me somewhere deep inside
I'm hoping to get close to a peace I cannot find

Dancing through the fire just to catch a flame
Just to get close to, just close enough
To tell you that.....

You do something to me something deep inside.

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE VIDEO.

Weekend Plans...

Friday: Headed to Red Lodge to have PIZZA with Scott and Justine (and their two little cuties) from Powell, then head to Billings and stay the night with my wonderful in-laws.

Saturday: Spend the day with my Scott's family, hopefully do some shopping (need a new purse, new black shoes and dress for festival...)

Saturday night: Spend the night with Megs...WOOHOO we will have lots of fun doing girly stuff...

Sunday: Head home, relax...

What about you?

The Counseling Saga

continues. Claustrophobia. Sadness. Grieving. They all come from one particular source.

Blood, Sweat and Tears....literally.

What do you think?

Still working on the

bathroom, with George Dog's help, of course.

Ode to a student...

She sat in my Jh band as the only floutist. Her parts were always played well, but I knew she was incredibly shy. "I don't think I will be at the concert" she said. I didn't know if it was because she was shy or what but I insisted...
1) It's part of your grade
2) You have a solo, it's the only part that is being played and it's too late to teach it to someone else
3) You can do this...

She came, she played, she didn't stay in band. 3 years later, she walked into my Applied Lessons class. Now this class is one of many colors. It's for students that can't fit choir into their schedule; it's for students that want to learn a new band instrument or work on festival pieces; it's for students who want to learn specifically bass, guitar or piano. "Amanda, so good to see you!"

"I want to learn the piano! And, I've decided to join choir."

"Marvelous."

After a few days, she asked if she could bring her guitar in. "I've written a few songs." Her untrained choir voice is on pitch but very meek. We worked on breathing, support, mouth shape, etc.

She took out her guitar, strummed a couple simple strums, looked up at the class and announced she was a little bit nervous and hopes it comes out okay. The next moments made me weep. Out came this folksy sound (cross between Jewel and Joan Armatrading) Her voice was strong, her playing was precise and the words...oh the words... For such a meek young lady, I was so impressed. Her compositions consisted of mostly sad love songs, but not necessarily slow in tempo. The chord changes weren't predictable, different sections were of different meters, it was so refreshing. The class loved it.

"Ms. Creek, can Amanda sing for us again?"

"No, she made you a CD, you can listen to that!"

"Ms. Creek," Amanda said one day, "I brought you a different CD, it is some of my favorite songs!" They were also mine, I put on the CD and she and I sang songs that were long forgotten...

Partridge Family, can you believe it? This young lady in 10th grade brought me a CD of songs I grew up on (and when I played the one I burned for my sister, we wept together).

One day, Amanda was upset. "To be honest," the calm but intense voice spoke, "I wrote all these songs about someone who I used to have a bad crush on. He doesn't even know my name. I'm not sure I'm over him yet, but I hope I am."

Time passed. Classes passed. She learned some piano, we all sang, the class as a whole continued to grow, musically, and began to gel as a unit...Amanda started to come out of her shell...reach out to others, feeling accepted. (She always was, just didn't realize it.) "I wrote another song if you want to hear it." Well, of course.

Today was my day for evaluations from my Principal. 3 classes he sat through (32 5th grade beginning band students, HS band and Jh choir). I invited him to come down to my Applied Lessons class. Amanda was singing. He smiled and reminded the class that when they were in 5th grade, he was their teacher and when they had to give their first speech, Amanda sang hers. Since then, she has taught herself a little guitar.
We all clapped for her new ones, sang along with the old ones and my Principal praised her and praised her. Amanda smiles and shyly said, "I feel good right now."


A couple hours later I was approached by my students...
"Please Ms. Creek, PLEASE talk to our PE teacher! We want Amanda to sing for our PE class! We want the rest of our classmates and all the boys to her hear songs. We try to explain how good they are, but it just doesn't do them justice, PLEASE?!!!"

Last period of the day, the gym was full of 2 PE classes plus the weight training class. Loud screams, balls flying everywhere, and there was Amanda, shyly getting her guitar out. She sat on the rug by the door and soon her classmates surrounded her. Shortly after she started singing, even the loud mouth Seniors shut up and settled in to her words. She sang away, of the boy she loved that didn't know her name, of the one that effects her emotions and moods and unbeknownst to him, he sat right in front of her, smiling and listening.

The whistles, applause and hollers roared after each song. She sang from her heart, she sang them perfect. 3 songs were performed and touched each one of those students. Soon afterwards, the balls etc. started up again, some were talking to her and up he walked up, on 2 separate occasions, and gave her a big hug. "This is the first time I feel popular." she softly told me.

Two things happened this afternoon. Amanda shared her soul with us, with her peers she has feel "unpopular" with and even "the boy". We shared our love for Amanda, and yes, even the boy.

Her songs are on her MySpace link:

http://www.myspace.com/partridgefamilyromantic

Today, as a music teacher, I loved my job.

Michelle went and saw Teyla!